Matter Arising from Oyo LG Polls: March 18, 2023, The Day Oyo APC Lost It Local Government selections or is it election have been concluded in Oyo state.

Matter Arising from Oyo LG Polls: March 18, 2023, The Day Oyo APC Lost It

Local Government selections or is it election have been concluded in Oyo state.

As Governor Makinde unwittingly promised, the PDP ” cleared” all the Chairmanship and Councillorship seats across the 33 Local Governments.

The whole process have been generally condemned by a larger percentage of the population of Oyo state and across Nigeria.

The build up to the election saw a unique resurgent of the APC in Oyo state.

The resurgence, coordination and synergy within the ranks and file of the APC in Oyo state must have shook and caught Seyi Makinde and the PDP unawares.

Who will not be shocked by such unusual determination from a party that just wrestled Itself to the floor in the last general elections to the benefits of Makinde and the PDP?

This is time for sober reflections and fence mending but no one can successfully mend a fence by completely overlooking how the fence got broken in the first place.

All APC leaders and teeming members did throughout Local Government Electioneering campaign and on April 27th 2024, was all we could have done last year March 18h and the story would have been completely different from the sorry situation the APC presently found itself now.

Exactly what did APC get right on April 27?

APC leaders and members allowed bygones to be and focused on the bigger picture.

They (APC) agreed to put sentiments and personal ego aside and saw the party first in all circumstances.

They all supported the course of the prosperity of the party throughout the electioneering without minding whoever led the charge.

Assuming all hands were on deck, assuming everyone did his and her bits while the gubernatorial candidate addressed rallies and campaigns just as he did during the Local Government Election, APC members will definitely be occupying the political spaces in Oyo state as we speak.

That APC is now struggling for space with GSM is a manifestation of the party leaders’ and members’ past indescretions and they must admit and learn to accept it.

That is the only way APC will truly cement the newly found rythm and synergy.

It is good that almost all of those who saw reasons to work against the party have returned and they all contributed to the active participation of the party in the just concluded SELectioneering process.

However, what are the genuine intent moving forward?

Is it to upset the applecart, which is considered skewed in a particular direction or to learn from the mistakes of the past and rebuild the house with those they had once left in it?

APC members are all clapping and beating their chests in the open for the newly found rythm.

However, whatever they do in the open now, will it not be a state of the proverbial Oyo man, who, though, lie prostrate, but inside of him, he is crouching?

Oyo dobale Inu e loso.

Who will not be encouraged by what we witnessed during the electioneering?

A division of responsibilities with everyone dedicated to one singular purpose – party success.

The 2023 gubernatorial candidate of the party, Senator Teslim Folarin, Senator Abdulfatai Buhari, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, Senator Yunus Akintunde, Hon. Remi Oseni, Hon. Tajudeen Abisodun Were and other party gladiators were moving round, lifting the hearts of party members, giving messages to rally the electorates to reject Governor Makinde and the PDP.

All the Leaders at different levels and the elected officials provided necessary cover here and there and the result is the exposure of Governor Makinde and the condemnations that trailed the sham Local Government Election he conducted.

Now, isn’t that beautiful?

This is not to say that a few individuals did not continue to sabotage the party.

If the state Treasurer of the PDP should be taken seriously and I think he should be, some of APC stakeholders still sabotaged the party in Ibadan North and Lagelu Local Government Areas, and this is according to the PDP state Treasurer who considered the Local Government Election as “all-inclusive” just because a couple of saboteurs in Oyo APC compromised.

APC also has the situation of a Senior Advocate who is supposedly a chieftain of Oyo APC expressing support for the sham election on a national Radio.

It is important to say that as APC moves forward with the rebuilding and fence mending within the party, it is important to ensure that commitments are total and not designed for selfish reasons.

In every sense, bygones should be bygones and all old wounds closed for good.

The party as is presently constituted have been doing excellently well.

Kudos must be given to the party for digging deep to ensure participaton in the Local Government Election.

That singular step have opened the door for genuine reconciliation which should be whole heartedly embraced by all.

If the Local Government Election of Saturday were to be free and fair, we all know that the APC would have won majority of the Local Government Areas.

May APC not repeat the mistakes that have now turned her to a stranger in the space she could have easily occupied.

Only deep thinkers can comprehend the extent of the loss APC suffered for trading away what God has given to her on a platter of gold.

Commissioners, Special Advisers, SSAs, SAs, Chairmen of Boards and parastatals, Contracts and many more have been traded away through anger and vengeance.

May APC not repeat such an unfortunate mistake again.

One must draw inspirations from the reaction of Eng. Remi Oseni, the member representing Ido/ Ibarapa East Federal Constituencies in the House of Representatives.

He aptly described both the attitudes of Governor Makinde, OYSIEC and PDP on the one hand and the saboteurs within the Oyo APC on the other hand.

Quoting him directly, he said “…those who pretended to be part of our journey in the unprecedented election but were internal enemies…”, and the internal enemies abound.

Speaking of the saboteurs from within, it is incumbent and mandatory for the State Executives of the APC in Oyo state to investigate the claims and confirmation of sabotage made by the state Treasurer of the PDP in respect of Ibadan North and Lagelu Local Governments.

Those who are found culpable must face heavy sanctions in line with the guidelines and Constitution of the party.

There must be no sacred cows. Otherwise, future saboteurs would be further emboldened.

The indiscipline within the party is what brought APC to the unfortunate situation she finds herself and it must not be encouraged by flipping over strong accusations like the one made by the Oyo state Treasurer of the PDP.

It is also incumbent on the state Executives of the APC in Oyo state to sanction some supposed party chieftains who are fond of unguarded and reckless statements before, during and after the general election and up until now is a sour taste in the mouth.

The supposed party chieftains demarketed the APC during the last general election, they have refused to show remorse but have rather continued to hobnobb with Governor Makinde and have not stopped demarketting the APC.

If people like them are left alone to roam public spaces with the tag of ” Chieftain of Oyo APC, the harm they will cause the party will be monumental.

They are in a hatchet job for the PDP. They should be put in their places.

The Executives of the APC in Oyo state should also demand for a list of all others who have continued to sabotage the efforts of the party across the 33 Local Governments.

Discipline is the bedrock of success and the lack of it is gateway to failure.

2027 is around the corner. Whoever is too big to comply with the decisions of the party must be shown the exit door.

God Almighty will crown whosoever He wishes.

The mindset of if it is not mine, then it won’t be another’s is the reason APC is where she is today.

May God give APC leaders and members the wisdom and will to manage victory and losses as thet move on with the repacking of the APC in Oyo state.

Barrister Wale Ajadi writes from Okeho, Kajola LGA, Oyo State